Private dining in Makati at Puey’s Penthouse

We loved our recent dining experience at Puey’s Penthouse. It is nice to get away from the hustle & bustle of restaurants and feel like a guest in somebody else’s home. Particularly if the private resto owner is also a fashion designer. You can shoot two birds with one stone. I had fun fitting on some of the clothes in Puey Quinones’s bedroom prior to enjoying my five course meal 🙂

Character is what the place has. First, the place is right smack in Makati Avenue’s red light district. Familiar landmarks are the burger place Filling Station and a girlie bar teasingly named Cuddles. Puey’s Penthouse is an old building actually. We had to use a rickety old elevator to reach the top floor and I sort of got scared when I reached the penthouse because there were no signs at all in the dark corridor. I didn’t know which door it was.

Puey’s private dining enjoys an open layout. Designs from Puey’s latest collection happily coexist with the dining area and other curiosities. The owner apologizes for the damage brought on the roof brought by the recent typhoon. He says he’s now praying for rain to see where the leak is.

Here’s the table setting. The dining tables & chairs are all in white. Am glad he did so. Otherwise, the place would have looked so gloomy.

First to arrive was the appetizer of Spicy Dilis or crispy dried anchovies. I had a hard time eating this dish at first but soon warmed up to it because its taste and spiciness was just addictive. (Photo courtesy of Puey)

Up next was this divine salad of chicken, tomatoes, cucumber and greens with a delicious cheesy jalapeno dressing. Puey’s proud of this specialty of his and I agree.I savored this salad so much that I was willing to end my meal right there. Plus, this one made me pleasantly full!

The best is still to be because soon enough I had a sighting of the pinangat on the table, another Puey specialty from his hometown in the province of Samar. We know this as laing in Manila. The only difference is that the pinangat is more meticulously prepared here and is really tasteful with an abundant topping of coconut milk. The taro leaves are also flown all the way from Samar because somehow they taste really good there and undergo a long drying process.

The main entree was this pork stew called humba which I would call the Visayan version of adobo.I remember this dish as being a bit sweet in my hometown of Southern Leyte but at Puey’s it was rather salty. To each his own, I guess.

Didn’t eat the rice anymore & hardly touched the dessert of Cathedral Windows. As I told you, I was already full from the second course and I would rather relish my conversation with the designer-cook and explore more of his place.

Here are some more photos:

Love this full-length mirror in the stairwell leading to his workshop.

This is the terrace with a view of Makati environs. I edited the photo because it was so dark that night. But I love the abundance of potted plants in Puey’s place.

Puey’s Penthouse (private dining)
reservations are encouraged 2 days before
P. Burgos St. Makati
Mobile phone no. 09287309372
email pueyspenthouse@gmail.com